Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Nikki Kaye says reducing class sizes would help teacher negotiations

Zaryd Wilson
By Zaryd Wilson
Editor - Whanganui Chronicle ·Whanganui Chronicle·
17 Aug, 2018 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Whanganui MP Harete Hipango and National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye spoke on Friday with Whanganui principals about the teacher's strike. Photo/ Stuart Munro
Whanganui MP Harete Hipango and National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye spoke on Friday with Whanganui principals about the teacher's strike. Photo/ Stuart Munro

Whanganui MP Harete Hipango and National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye spoke on Friday with Whanganui principals about the teacher's strike. Photo/ Stuart Munro

Nikki Kaye says committing to reducing teacher workload would go some way to resolving a pay dispute between teachers and the Government.

Primary school teachers across the country took strike action on Wednesday for the first time since the mid-1990s demanding better pay and conditions.

The Opposition education spokesperson and former minister in the portfolio was in Whanganui yesterday talking to students at Whanganui High School before meeting with some of the city's principals.

Kaye said she supported teachers being paid more but would not commit to a figure instead saying pay rates had to be addressed alongside other issues such as working conditions.

"That is a conversation for the Government and we can't insert ourselves in that without knowing the discussions that are happening around teacher ratios and special education.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think it would be wrong to go and name a figure without seeing the rest of the books as well."

However, she had sympathy with teachers regarding workload which is why National had changed its policy to reduce class sizes, she said.

"We think it would help if [the Government] moved around the child teacher ratios.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Again, we're not inside these discussions but it certainly would help and we have a Minister very reluctant in the last couple of weeks... to commit."

The NZEI union wants a 16 per cent pay rise over two years for teachers.

The Ministry of Education says non-pay-related claims would cost a further $291m a year on top of the extra $296m a year for salaries.

Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said the teachers' asking point was just too high.

Discover more

Editorial: Nurses - where do we go from here?

14 Jul 01:00 AM

Chester Borrows: Expediency is not justice

27 Jul 03:00 AM
Education

St John's parents, staff discuss strike

12 Aug 07:00 PM

Strike draws educators en masse in Whanganui

15 Aug 07:00 PM

But Kaye said the Government had made spending choices, such as free tertiary education and a regional growth fund, which had limited its options.

"This isn't the case that they don't have any money. They have made a series of choices to spend it on other things."

The free tertiary education bill of $2.8b over four years had sucked up a lot of budget.

"That was a big call by the Government," Kaye said.

"I've been at the Cabinet table and the reality is Minister Hipkins got that chunk of cash so it's then politically more difficult to go an argue for other areas of education funding."

Kaye argued the current Government was in a better position that the previous National one which had the global financial crisis and Canterbury earthquakes to deal with.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They've come in at a very different time period with billions of dollars more cash and we think for whatever reason they prioritised students and a whole lot of other things rather than teachers and that has to be acknowledged.

"Even if the general public don't agree with exactly 16 per cent, they're saying 'Well, could you do more for the teachers? They're saying yeah, I think you could."

Kaye said the dispute needed to be resolved.

"The Minister has to do everything possible to try and resolve this before what is being talked about as a potential two-day strike."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Weather set to be 'pretty nice' for start of school holidays

29 Jun 10:42 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Top of the Props: Hard work pays off for real estate stalwarts

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Horizons to increase funding for Whanganui public transport

29 Jun 05:00 PM

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
'A single phone call': US says intel from Iran insignificant
World

'A single phone call': US says intel from Iran insignificant

29 Jun 10:54 PM
Black Ferns trio out with injury for final matches before World Cup
Black Ferns

Black Ferns trio out with injury for final matches before World Cup

29 Jun 10:54 PM
US Proud Boys no longer terrorists in NZ as designation lapses
Politics

US Proud Boys no longer terrorists in NZ as designation lapses

29 Jun 10:49 PM
Missing teen found safe and well after vanishing from Auckland mall six days ago
New Zealand

Missing teen found safe and well after vanishing from Auckland mall six days ago

29 Jun 10:47 PM
Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold
Olympics

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

29 Jun 10:44 PM

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Weather set to be 'pretty nice' for start of school holidays

Weather set to be 'pretty nice' for start of school holidays

29 Jun 10:42 PM

Whanganui received 22.8mm of rain over the weekend, a fifth of June's total.

Top of the Props: Hard work pays off for real estate stalwarts

Top of the Props: Hard work pays off for real estate stalwarts

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Horizons to increase funding for Whanganui public transport

Horizons to increase funding for Whanganui public transport

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Ten things to do these winter holidays

Ten things to do these winter holidays

27 Jun 06:00 PM
There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently
sponsored

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search